Sports betting

Sports betting strategy: How to hedge and middle your bets

USA Today Sportsbookwire

"Hedging" and "middling" are two of the most popular sports betting strategies you'll hear mentioned by recreational and professional gamblers. Below, we'll discuss what these approaches mean and how to use them.

A hedge is a strategy in which a bettor will bet the opposite side of a pending wager in order to reduce their risk and/or guarantee a profit. Hedging is popular with future bets because of its high payouts and multi-way action.

Middling is a method that has elements of hedging but is also used to score bigger payouts. A middle is when a bettor takes both sides of a game at different lines in hopes of scooping both bets.

Some sort of line move is needed to employ this strategy, whether it be within in-game betting or betting the opposite side of the original wager prior to the second half.

Also see:Sports betting terms and definitions

When to hedge?

For me, hedging is more of a personal conversation in that a bettor's willingness to hedge usually depends on that person's bankroll or comfortability with a bet's outcome.

If you don't have much skin in the game or don't feel good about the other lines in that bet's market then why not let your original wager ride?

Let me give you an example of how to hedge. First, let's pretend you've bet $100 on the Baltimore Ravens (+1400) to win the Super Bowl. They steamroll through the regular season and advance to the big game to play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The original $100 wager on the Ravens (+1400) to win the Super Bowl has a $1,400 pending profit. In this mock scenario, the Buccaneers will be favored -130 on the money line. If you're looking to hedge, the play would be to bet at least $130 on the Bucs (-130) to at least give yourself a "freeroll."

Depending on how you feel maybe the play is to wager $650 on the Bucs (-130) money line to win the Super Bowl to guarantee yourself a $500 profit if Tampa wins or an $800 profit if Baltimore wins.

Again, this is more of a personal dilemma than a "one size fits all" strategy.

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Middling opportunities

The best times to middle is either in-game or prior to the second half of a game you already have action on.

For example, maybe you really like the Tennessee Titans (+4.5) on the road against the Ravens and take Tennessee plus the points before kick-off.

Now, say the Titans catch a few first-half breaks and get out to a 21-7 lead entering halftime, but Baltimore is favored by 6 points for the second half. This would give you an 18-point cushion on the middle.

With the Titans (+4.5) slip already in your pocket, by betting Baltimore -6 for the second half, you could scoop both bets if the Ravens lose by 7 or fewer points and Tennessee doesn't lose by 5 or more points.

A middle can serve as a "hedge" or profit maximizer depending on how you play it. Either way, it's a strategy that'll definitely help your bankroll if properly used.

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